Used iPhone prices are ridiculous!

[Mnky313]

I was looking for a used iPhone (6s+/7+) for a family member to use as basically an iPod Touch (not just for music) for now with the possibility of being added to our phone plan later (they are only 11 rn, so they don't need service currently (and we aren't about to pay another $60 a month to add them to our plan at the moment)).

To start: Fuck Carriers more than Apple on this first bit, why the actual fuck is it still allowed for carriers to refuse to unlock devices. Absolute bullshit.

Luckily Samsung inadvertently solved this by making all US models the same including making them compatible with other carrier firmware.

I have been searching eBay for used iPhone 6S+/7+ etc. that can work on Verizon. Problem is they are still $100+ for broken ones and $130+ for ones that work on Verizon and can be easily fixed with a screen replacement.

For comparison, I just bought a Note8 with a small crack in the bottom corner basically not visible (it's covered by the navbar most of the time) for $100 and the Note8 is literally WAY better in every way.... 

Just kind of infuriating. That's it.

Edit:
Ok, I am aware that 11 year olds do not need a phone. They aren't going to use it as a phone, think of it like an iPod touch. We can send messages to them (via a service like textfree) when they are at their friends house or they can play games while in the car etc.

[Zando_]

Yep. Good Essential PH-1s still go for well over $100, often closer to/over $200. Welcome to the pain of wanting phones with a good resale value. 

[Acid Panda]

the older iphone still hold their value since they are supported for a long time and generally work till they are mostly dead.

i had an 6 plus for 4 years and it still works today.

 

would sell it to you but it would come from the uk. so large shipping fees

[NineEyeRon]

Why not just get iPod?

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, NineEyeRon said:

Why not just get iPod?

iPod Touch? Often slower, often still pretty expensive, repair is.... 

 

NO.

They're a glue sandwich, even worse than iPads. 

[Kilrah]

Apple stuff holds its value. Great when you're planning to resell your stuff after a couple of years to upgrade, last time I sold an Apple device I had essentially used it for 4 years for only $300, but sucks when you want to give something to a kid who's likely going to break it so you'll never be able to resell it later.

Go with another manufacturer or swallow the pill?

[Curious Pineapple]

I too have been trying to find a not horridly priced iPhone, it's damn impossible. In some ways I wish I had got one instead of my Note 9, but I got a better device with the Note so I'm glad I made that choice.

[Gohardgrandpa]

Go to a boost mobile. They always have some kind of older iPhone deal that’s cheap as hell. You can start service then don’t pay for it the next month and let them use it as a iPod. 

[Roswell]

35 minutes ago, Caroline said:

75% of the price is because of the apple logo, iphones are midrange at max if you go to the specs when compared to other devices

get the kid an mp3 player or a normal phone

That's not true, iPhones demolish everything on the market in performance. Been that way for years.

 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14892/the-apple-iphone-11-pro-and-max-review/5

 

Go to the following page for GPU benchmarks.

[Kilrah]

But given iPhones keep their value, a current $200 android phone will likely perform better than a $200 iPhone since said iPhone will be 4 years old.

[dalekphalm]

This sucks if you're trying to buy a used model, but it fucking kicks ass if you bought an iPhone and want to resell it. They hold their value significantly more than comparable Android phones, for the most part.

 

@Mnky313 have you looked at other models? The iPhone SE is often found for a really good deal. Mostly the same hardware as the 6s. Why the 6s+ and 7+ variants?

 

Also, why not just get a Note8 instead, if they're much cheaper used?

[dizmo]

Well I mean it doesn't really seem like that phone is a good choice for the use case anyway. You might as well buy a music device, and then get them a phone when the parents are ready; during Black Friday or something when they're ridiculously cheap. You're expecting what's marketed as a premium product to be cheap. I don't see why you're surprised that it isn't.

 

 

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Well I mean it doesn't really seem like that phone is a good choice for the use case anyway. You might as well buy a music device, and then get them a phone when the parents are ready; during Black Friday or something when they're ridiculously cheap. You're expecting what's marketed as a premium product to be cheap. I don't see why you're surprised that it isn't.

Especially if the primary purpose is indeed just music - get them a cheap $30 MP3 player, or basically any used Android phone w/ an SD card slot.

[kpluck]

4 hours ago, Mnky313 said:

the Note8 is literally WAY better in every way.... 

As long as one of the ways being counted isn't running the latest version of its OS, which the iPhones you mention do.

 

-kp

[Mooshi]

Who buys an 11 year old an old iPhone to use as an MP3 player? By the time they are old enough for real service, you'd be better off getting a new phone free with a new line offer.

 

Get them a cheap SanDisk mp3 player.

[dizmo]

56 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Especially if the primary purpose is indeed just music - get them a cheap $30 MP3 player, or basically any used Android phone w/ an SD card slot.

Exactly. Plus, with Android the apps are almost universally cheaper, if not free.

An 11 year old doesn't need a status symbol. Though the SE would be an excellent option, and they're usually quite cheap, as you said.

[Guest]

When I was 11 I had a Kyocera. 

[kokakolia]

4 hours ago, Mooshi said:

Who buys an 11 year old an old iPhone to use as an MP3 player? By the time they are old enough for real service, you'd be better off getting a new phone free with a new line offer.

 

Get them a cheap SanDisk mp3 player.

Does it have Bluetooth and Spotify tho?

[Mooshi]

22 minutes ago, kokakolia said:

Does it have Bluetooth and Spotify tho?

When I was 11 I played outside and had a Walkman for music. Kids don't need a streaming sub with Bluetooth.

[kokakolia]

Just now, Mooshi said:

When I was 11 I played outside and had a Walkman for music. Kids don't need a streaming sub with Bluetooth.

Why not? Free Spotify is pretty darn good. And you can get Bluetooth earphones for $20. It seems like a no-brainer to me if they already have a phone, any phone.

[Mnky313]

11 hours ago, kpluck said:

As long as one of the ways being counted isn't running the latest version of its OS, which the iPhones you mention do.

 

-kp

True, but Older versions of Android are usually still supported by apps longer than iOS. So where iPhone's get updates for longer, apps might require iOS 11 or 12 where almost every app will still run on Android 6 or even older.

13 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

This sucks if you're trying to buy a used model, but it fucking kicks ass if you bought an iPhone and want to resell it. They hold their value significantly more than comparable Android phones, for the most part.

 

@Mnky313 have you looked at other models? The iPhone SE is often found for a really good deal. Mostly the same hardware as the 6s. Why the 6s+ and 7+ variants?

 

Also, why not just get a Note8 instead, if they're much cheaper used?

I did, for reference I have 2 twin siblings, so usually they end up with the same thing or else they fight over it
One of them is happy to get a Note8, he likes the Pen on my and my mother's Note9.
As for why a 6s+/7+: We have one and didn't want to have to buy 2 SEs instead of 1 6S+

9 hours ago, Mooshi said:

Who buys an 11 year old an old iPhone to use as an MP3 player? By the time they are old enough for real service, you'd be better off getting a new phone free with a new line offer.

 

Get them a cheap SanDisk mp3 player.

Less of an MP3 playter and more of something for them to play games on as well, They have iPads but they are iPad mini 2s with 16GB of storage... they are basically useless now and can't run about anything.

14 hours ago, Vitamanic said:

That's not true, iPhones demolish everything on the market in performance. Been that way for years.

 

https://www.anandtech.com/show/14892/the-apple-iphone-11-pro-and-max-review/5

 

Go to the following page for GPU benchmarks.

Yeah, but a Snapdragon 835 is definitely faster than an A9 and for the price I can't argue.

12 hours ago, dizmo said:

Well I mean it doesn't really seem like that phone is a good choice for the use case anyway. You might as well buy a music device, and then get them a phone when the parents are ready; during Black Friday or something when they're ridiculously cheap. You're expecting what's marketed as a premium product to be cheap. I don't see why you're surprised that it isn't.

Ok, iPod probably wasn't the right word:
I mean similar to an iPod Touch, something that functions like a Phone but doesn't have Cell service. Something for games and Discord etc. Not just listening to music!
But an iPod Touch is not an option as it's not much less and the hardware is terrible for the price.

I hope this clears some stuff up, this thread had a lot more replies than I thought O_O.
 

[dalekphalm]

5 hours ago, kokakolia said:

Why not? Free Spotify is pretty darn good. And you can get Bluetooth earphones for $20. It seems like a no-brainer to me if they already have a phone, any phone.

Why would you get younger kids bluetooth earbuds though? They're more easily lost, and for $20, they won't sound any better than the included earbuds (or just buy $20 wired headphones which will sound better).

 

Spotify is much more easily justified than unnecessarily spending $20 on bluetooth earbuds that aren't needed.

1 hour ago, Mnky313 said:

True, but Older versions of Android are usually still supported by apps longer than iOS. So where iPhone's get updates for longer, apps might require iOS 11 or 12 where almost every app will still run on Android 6 or even older.

Consider that Android 6 came out in 2015. Same year as the iPhone 6S/6S Plus - a phone still currently supported by iOS - as in, it got iOS 13 and all current patches.

 

The first device to run Android 6 was the Nexus 5X. What OS is a Nexus 5X on? Android 8.1 was the latest release - two major OS revisions ago.

1 hour ago, Mnky313 said:

I did, for reference I have 2 twin siblings, so usually they end up with the same thing or else they fight over it

Not unusual for siblings in general, no doubt it can be worse with twins.

1 hour ago, Mnky313 said:

One of them is happy to get a Note8, he likes the Pen on my and my mother's Note9.
As for why a 6s+/7+: We have one and didn't want to have to buy 2 SEs instead of 1 6S+

If the 6S+ was not being used, why not just sell the 6S+, since iPhones have amazing used phone prices because they retain their value so much?

 

Then, with the revenue from the 6S+, you could buy whatever you wanted. 2x SE's, another Note8, whatever.

1 hour ago, Mnky313 said:

Less of an MP3 playter and more of something for them to play games on as well, They have iPads but they are iPad mini 2s with 16GB of storage... they are basically useless now and can't run about anything.

Fair enough. If the iPads are basically useless, sell them.

 

Also, FYI about the carrier locking - come to Canada. The government outlawed phone locking a couple of years ago, and made mandatory unlocking for free of any locked phone by the carrier law.

[Mnky313]

32 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Why would you get younger kids bluetooth earbuds though? They're more easily lost, and for $20, they won't sound any better than the included earbuds (or just buy $20 wired headphones which will sound better).

 

Spotify is much more easily justified than unnecessarily spending $20 on bluetooth earbuds that aren't needed.

Consider that Android 6 came out in 2015. Same year as the iPhone 6S/6S Plus - a phone still currently supported by iOS - as in, it got iOS 13 and all current patches.

 

The first device to run Android 6 was the Nexus 5X. What OS is a Nexus 5X on? Android 8.1 was the latest release - two major OS revisions ago.

Not unusual for siblings in general, no doubt it can be worse with twins.

If the 6S+ was not being used, why not just sell the 6S+, since iPhones have amazing used phone prices because they retain their value so much?

 

Then, with the revenue from the 6S+, you could buy whatever you wanted. 2x SE's, another Note8, whatever.

Fair enough. If the iPads are basically useless, sell them.

 

Also, FYI about the carrier locking - come to Canada. The government outlawed phone locking a couple of years ago, and made mandatory unlocking for free of any locked phone by the carrier law.

They got knock off airpods for christmas and they love them, (they are 11 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). I know wired headphones will sound better.

Yeah, An iPhone 6S is still supported and might get iOS 14 as well, but Android 9 (probably last official update for Note8) will probably have similar app support to iOS 13 as I doubt most apps will drop support for Android 9 in ~3 years where as if the trend with iOS keeps up a lot of apps will drop support for iOS 13 in ~3-4 years as most app require iOS 10 today with a lot of apps requiring iOS 11 where as a significant number of apps require android 5 with some requiring 6.

 

The iPhone 6S+ is in basically pristine condition, it was a replacement because Apple broke her 6+ while replacing the battery. So if the other one wanted an Android device we would probably sell it. (And don't worry, my mother is very adamant that they are getting rugged cases

I wish I could come to Canada, lol.

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, Mnky313 said:

Ok, iPod probably wasn't the right word:

I mean similar to an iPod Touch, something that functions like a Phone but doesn't have Cell service. Something for games and Discord etc. Not just listening to music!
But an iPod Touch is not an option as it's not much less and the hardware is terrible for the price.

So what's wrong with the SE? It's significantly cheaper.

[Mnky313]

57 minutes ago, dizmo said:

So what's wrong with the SE? It's significantly cheaper.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the SE, and it probably would have made more sense if both of them wanted an iPhone. But even an SE is still $80 for one that works with Verizon and is 32GB.

But yeah, selling our 6S+ and buying 2 SEs would be a good option.